Lead Compliance Analyst

• At Wave, we help small businesses to thrive so the heart of our communities beats stronger.  We work in an environment buzzing with creative energy and inspiration. No matter where you are or how you get the job done, you have what you need to be successful and connected. The mark of true success at Wave is the ability to be bold, learn quickly and share your knowledge generously.
• You’ll be the CCO’s main partner in scaling our compliance program. Half the job is design: turning regulatory obligations into frameworks, policies and controls that product teams/engineering teams/etc can build against. The other half is running it: reviewing launches, tracking conditions, and keeping commitments to partners and regulators on time.

Here's how you will make an impact:

Build the program foundations

Build and maintain the regulatory inventory: which rules apply to which products and jurisdictions, who owns each obligation, and how we evidence compliance

Design the policy framework (taxonomy, ownership, approval authority, review cadence) and write or refresh core policies and procedures

Run the compliance risk assessment for regulatory and product risk across Payments, Payroll, Invoicing, Accounting, Advisors and Partnerships

Support Issue Management and remediation tracking so open findings have an owner, a date and visible progress

Own the regulatory change process: track changes in the USA and Canada, assess impact, route actions to the right team

Maintain the registration and license calendar so renewals and fillings never lapse

Run Product Compliance

Operate the tiered review process: triage intake, set conditions, give clear approve/approve-with-conditions/decline decisions

Partner with Product, Engineering, Legal and Risk early in design

Review high-risk launches: new payment flows, onboarding changes, data sharing, new jurisdictions

Apply the Product Compliance Evidence Standard and make sure launches leave an audit-ready trail

Review marketing claims and customer communications against the Marketing Content Guidelines

Oversee third parties and partners

Build compliance oversight of key processors and partners: obligations mapping, contract review input, monitoring, escalation

Oversee partner due diligence and maintain the data-sharing register

Coordinate card network, processor, and partner audits, attestations and inquiries

Report and Lead

Produce program reporting for leadership: scorecard, KPIs, open issues, emerging risks

Find the manual work worth automating and building lightweight tooling (ex. AI assistance) to remove it

You Thrive Here By Possessing the Following:

Required

6+ years in regulatory or product compliance at a fintech, payments company, PSP, bank or other regulated financial services firm

Hands-on experience building a compliance program component from scratch: policies, risk assessment, regulatory inventory, issue management or similar

Working knowledge of payments regulation and card network rules, with experience in at least one of: US money movement (NACHA/ACH, Reg E, UDAAP) or Canadian payments (RPAA, FINTRAC, PIPEDA)

Experience embedded with product and engineering teams, reviewing features before launch

Clear, concise writing: you can turn a regulation into a requirement as engineer can build to

Comfort with ambiguity and shifting priorities in an integration environment

Nice to have

Both US and Canadian regulatory experience

Privacy program experience (PIPEDA, Quebec Law 25, CCPA) or exposure to PCI DSS, SOX or HIPAA controls

Payroll, tax or small-business fintech background

Experience with partner or processor oversight, network attestations, or regulatory exams

People leadership or formal mentoring

CRCM, CAMS, CAMLO training or similar

At Wave, we value diversity of perspective. Your unique experience enriches our organization. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds. Let’s talk about how you can thrive here!

Wave is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible candidate experience. If you require accommodations during the recruitment process, please let us know by emailing [email protected]. We will work with you to meet your needs.

We use Google Gemini, a secure AI assistant, during interviews for note-taking purposes only. Notes are kept confidential and are not shared outside the hiring process. This allows our interviewers to stay fully focused on you during the conversation.

This advertised posting is a current vacancy.